Obvious
by thecelery
Summary: Drake's tired of being the third wheel. Mild language & slash. Don't like it? Don't read it. R&R, por favor.
1. Creature and Other Insults

-1**Obvious**

Pairing(s): Drake/Josh, a little bit of Josh/Mindy. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I think we all know that by now.

Warnings:

If you don't like slash, don't read it. Simple as that.

I don't mind anonymous reviews, but keep them nice...or at the very least gentle. Remember, it's called _constructive_ criticism for a reason. ;)

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**Chapter 1: Conversations in Paper (or "Creature" and Other Insults)**

_"It's not that I **want **to make you suffer, dude. Believe me, this is hard for me to write, but I think it'd be harder for me to say. Consider yourself lucky to be reading this instead of hearing it. Anyway, what I was saying before is that-"_

"You're lucky, Drake, that I snatched the note out of your hand before you had the chance to write something potentially embarrasing," Drake heard Mrs. Hafer say after reading the note out loud to the rest of the class.

"Yeah," he replied as he looked down at his desk. He turned for a split second and noticed that Josh was blushing even more than he was.

The notes the two had written to each other had the potential of sending them both into a neverending pit of embarrasment. Luckily, what Drake had written was on a fresh piece of paper and Josh had hidden the older one quickly. The both of them figured they'd have to continue this conversation somewhere else and lunch wasn't a good place to do it: Mindy was there. In fact, if it weren't for her, they wouldn't even _have_ to be writing notes to each other in class. That somewhere else, they settled, would just have to be at home.

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"So," Josh said as he closed the door to the room he and Drake shared, "what were you gonna write before your note got 'confiscated'?"

"Oh, uh...well. I just-...umm...you know what? Forget it."

"Wait, what?" Josh said angrily "I thought we had agreed to talk about this!"

"Well," Drake said as he shifted onto his stomach on his bed "I changed my mind." He pulled the comforter over his body and closed his eyes.

"Drake..." Josh started to protest. He stopped mid-sentence when he heard snoring.

All he wanted to know was why his brother always had it in for his girlfriend, Mindy. She and Drake didn't exactly have the greatest relationship. They always greeted each other with insults, and, with few exceptions, their conversations always consisted of fighting over one thing or the other. "You are impossible, Drake Parker..." he said quietly.

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The Premiere was very busy for this time of day, even on a Saturday. Josh began his shift when Drake walked in.

"Hey, brotha!" he said happily.

"Hey, Drake," Josh replied with a surprised look on his face "what are you doing here alone? Didn't you have a date?"

"I did. I just wasn't into her, I guess," he lied. He was really here to continue talking to Josh about his problem with Mindy.

"Well, that's new. I guess-Hey!" Josh said with a grin on his face as his girlfriend walked up to the candy counter.

"Helloooo," she greeted him with a playful smile. "Drake."

"Creature," he responded with a look of disgust on his face. _Great. Now how are we gonna talk?_ While Drake tried to solve this problem by going to sit at one of the silver tables in the middle of the theater, Josh turned and began a little conversation with Mindy.

"So. What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," she said "I just wanted to come see my boyfriend." She wanted to give Josh a kiss, but decided against it when she remembered where she was.

Josh gave her a little smile as he wiped the glass on the counter with one hand and held hers with the other. He really wanted to keep talking, but there was a line forming behind Mindy as well as angry looks on his customers' faces. "Umm...Mindy, I uh, I think we should probably continue this later,' kay?"

"Oh, oops." she said with a giggle before giving her boyfriend a little wink and moving to the side of the counter.

Drake became restless sitting at the little table. He couldn't keep his eyes off of the little "lovefest", despite the fact that it was so sweet it almost made him gag. He hated their little public displays of affection, even if he was the type to do that with any girl who crossed his path. Something inside of Drake just wasn't liking this scenario, and even though sometimes he tried to get along with Mindy, there was that _something _preventing him from doing so. He got up and walked toward the counter again.

"What are _you_ doing here, D-average?" she asked sarcastically.

"Standing here. What's it look like?" Drake answered her very matter-of-factly. "I have the right to stand where I want and if I wanna stand near J- the counter, I'll do that!"

"Alright," she said putting her hands out in front of her body, "there's no need to get so defensive."

"I'm not being defensive!" he responded.

"Of course not. You don't even know what that means!"

Josh looked around and his face twisted into an expression of concern. _Please don't let them start fighting here, please. Not now._ He excused himself from the customer in front of him who rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He made his way toward the "situation" and started to say something, but was cut off by the now raised voices of the two arguing teenagers.

"Guys, you can't fight here! Guys!"

"I'm not the one who can't even pronounce the name of the country he lives in!"

"Oh, please. At least I never got locked in the cuckoo-hut!"

Josh ran a hand nervously across his face as his step-brother and his girlfriend continued to hurl insult after insult at each other. There was now a crowd gathering in front of them, watching intently and eating popcorn as if it were a scene in a movie.

"Guys, please. If Helen comes and finds you fighting I'm gonna get in trouble!" he said as he pushed his way through the crowd. " 'Scuse me. Comin' through! Outta the way, buddy!"

He stood directly in front of them both and threw his arms out as he yelled a big "HEY!" It got their attention and caught Drake in the middle of saying something that began with a "b".

" I don't care _where_ you fight! I don't care _if_ you fight. I don't care if you wanna _kill _each other, but please, can you take it outside or something? You're causing a commotion a-and I have a job to do and if Helen finds out about this I'm in deep trouble and I'll be fired. You guys don't want to carry that weight with you for the rest of your lives, do you?"

"I'm sorry, Joshy," Mindy said apologetically.

"_I'm sorry, Joshy_," Drake said mockingly before Josh shot him a look that could have killed him. "Sorry."

Drake left the Premiere soon after, but Mindy decided to stay and keep her now-nervous boyfriend company.

"Look, Josh, I'm sorry I started that whole thing with Drake."

"_You _started it?" Josh asked her

"Well, yes, but I-"

"Mindy, you _know _how Drake gets. Why would you start anything with him? Why here?"

"I don't know. He just got the better of me. I'm so sorry, Josh. I really am."

"It's okay," he said with a faint smile "so long as you keep it away from here next time...and there's no next time."

"I'll try my best," she said and gave him a little kiss goodbye before walking out the door.


	2. I Blame You

-1**Chapter 2: I Blame _You_**

As clear as it was to Josh that his girlfriend and his brother didn't get along, it was causing him a great deal of stress. He would always get upset when they fought, but lately they had just gone over the top. It wasn't the simple insults as usual; this time Drake and Mindy really had it in for each other and, even after having to deal with this kind of thing for months, he still didn't know why. Still lying on his bed, he closed the book he was reading and pushed it aside as he put his head on his crossed arms and fell asleep.

"Dude, get up!" Josh heard Drake say.

He was a little startled, but groggy and only managed to let out a soft "Huh?" as he saw Drake standing over his bed.

"Come on, Josh," his step-brother implored.

"What's going on," Josh said through a yawn. He looked around for a moment only to notice Drake was missing. _That's weird_, he thought to himself before he heard yelling coming from downstairs. _Not again!_

"Me? How is this my fault?" he heard Drake say. Sure enough there was Mindy, standing with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face. Josh just wondered what it was they were fighting about now.

"It's your fault, because despite the fact that he's your _brother_ you still treat me like garbage!"

"It's only because you tried to get me expelled last year!"

"So you can't let that go even if I'm your brother's girlfriend?"

"No, because you're a selfish, uptight bitch!"

Mindy's mouth fell open at the words she just heard. She stared at Drake incredulously for a while before regaining her composure and said "_I'm_ selfish? At least I'm not the one picking fights for no reason. Selfish, please."

As much as Drake hated to admit it, he knew Mindy was right. Not wanting to concede to her, he turned around, shot Josh a look that said "you finish this, I don't care," and ran upstairs. Josh just shrugged and walked toward his girlfriend.

"Hey. I'm sorry about Drake, it's just..." he exhaled deeply "I don't know what it is with that kid anymore...I-"

Mindy looked at Josh with worry in her eyes. She knew that although she had placed the blame entirely on Drake, it was partially her fault, too. Had it not been for her in the first place, they never would have hated each other. She sighed and apologized to Josh and gave him a kiss goodbye.

"You're leaving?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said in response "I'll see you later."

Josh walked her to the door and made sure she got to her car safely before closing the door. He cared about Mindy a lot and he hated to see her sad. As that thought crossed his mind, he began to think about someone else who seemed to be having the same problem. "Drake..." he said to himself quietly and almost ran up the stairs.

"Whatever you're gonna yell at me about, I don't wanna hear it," Drake said as soon as he heard the door to his room open.

"I'm not gonna yell at you," Josh explained. "Come here for a second, yeah?"

Drake raised an eyebrow curiously. "Sure," he said as he jumped off his bed and sat next to Josh on his.

"Look, I know you and Mindy don't get along," he said "but I wish you would consider _trying_."

"Why?" Drake replied "So that she can rub it in my face and tell me she was right all along? I'm trying Josh, I really am, it's just-" he bit his lip and caught himself before he said what he wanted to say, "I'll _try_, Josh. But I'm not doing this for _her_ sake. I'm doing it for you."

Josh smiled at Drake and gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Thanks, bro. You're the best... We should probably go get dinner, huh?"

"Yeah." Drake sighed and thought to himself. There was something he needed to get off his chest, but now wasn't the time nor the place. He decided against it and put it off for another day. After all, it couldn't hurt...could it?

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_Note: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but it's just a transitional one between the first and third chapter (which I'll post later). ;)_

_Thanks in advance to anyone who reviews! You guys make my day. 3_


	3. I Forgot the Flutter Nutters!

**Chapter 3: "I Forgot the Flutter Nutters!"**

Tuesdays at the Premiere were always particulary slow. So when Helen asked Josh to go to the storage room to get a couple of new boxes of "Flutter Nutters" he eyed her suspiciously. It wasn't until after he remembered the army of children that had been there for a school function the day before that he stopped worrying she'd had some sort of plot to lock him in there. _Wouldn't really matter_, he thought to himself, _I'd be able to live off the snacks in there anyway. _He made his way to the room.

"Ugh, now I remember why I hate this place," he said to himself as he made his way to the candy section.

It wasn't the nicest place to be. It was dark and sometimes the lights would flicker and make noises. It always sounded like someone was following you around. In fact someone _was_ following Josh.

He turned around to see who it was and was startled when saw his step-brother was standing right in front of him.

"Ah! Drake, what are you doing? You can't come in here!"

"It's okay. Helen said I could come in to get some candy," he explained.

"Oh, okay. Well, uh could you give me a hand with these boxes?" Josh said as he motioned to the shelves directly behind him.

"Sure, just let me get through here..." Drake said as he tried to squeeze himself into the tight little corner they were in.

"Uh, dude..." he heard Josh say.

He was about to ask him what he wanted, but instead he noticed the unusual position he was in. There was virtually no space between them and when Drake looked up he was staring straight into Josh's eyes. Try as he might, though, he couldn't move...and not because he was stuck. Drake didn't _want_ to move. He just stood there never taking his gaze off of Josh, who was now turning a shade of bright red. Drake pressed himself closer towards Josh.

"What are you doing? You-" he was cut off before he could say anything.

The next few minutes were a blur to Josh. He had every thought going through his head at a dizzying pace. Drake was kissing him and he didn't even know how to react. But despite the fact that he was so confused by it all, he never once tried to push him away. He just stood there feeling himself be kissed...and kissing Drake back.

They could have been there all day if their moment hadn't been interrupted by a loud yell.

"JOSH!"

His eyes widened when he realized who it was. Drake took his arms off from around Josh's neck and moved to the side just in time as Helen rounded the corner.

"There you are! What is taking you so long, boy!"

"I...uh...I was just, uh...talking. Talking to Drake about...about our homework!" Josh lied as he smiled.

"Oh, hi, Drake. You're lookin' handsome today," she complimented him.

"Thank you, Helen. So are you." he said, returning the favor. He started to walk toward the door, then turned around and gave his step-brother a little wink. "See ya, Josh!"

"Okay, Josh. Get the candy and get back to work before I get angry." Helen said as she followed Drake.

"Before?" Josh muttered under his breath. He stood still for a minute and sighed. Still feeling the warmth of Drake's lips on his, he put a hand on his stomach. It felt like there were a million butterflies in it. "What's going on?" he asked himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started to walk out. Once he was out the door, he noticed Helen was standing across from him, hands placed on her hips and an angry look on her face. He thought for a moment before he remembered that he'd forgotten what he went in for in the first place. He let out a little yelp and ran back in and out with the boxes of Flutter Nutters. Josh gave Helen the boxes with a smile before she snatched them away from him and walked away, grumbling.

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The rest of the work day passed by too slowly for Josh. All he could think about was what had happened in the storage room...and how it had made him feel. _Why?_ was the only thing he kept asking himself. He was snapped out of his thoughts when an angry customer shouted at him for not paying attention.

"Oh, uh. I'm- I'm sorry, ma'am," he apologized "here's your popcorn."

"I ordered a soda," she corrected him bitterly.

Josh handed her the soda and exhaled a little before getting back to wiping the glass of the counters.

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"Good night, Helen!" Josh said as he grabbed his things and left the theater for the night.

"Yeah, yeah..." he heard her say. Josh just chuckled.

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He had planned on talking to Drake that night. He wanted to tell him what he'd felt. He wanted to let Drake know that it was the best kiss he'd had in a long time. He wanted to...until he found Drake asleep.

"You're always asleep," he laughed a little and turned in for the night. Not that it did him any good. He couldn't sleep. As he watched the clock on the desk next to his bed, he kept thinking about the day's events, or rather the one specific one that seemed to have taken over his mind. Then he remembered something important. _What am I gonna tell Mindy?_

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_Note: That chapter was a little longer and they're gonna keep getting longer. Now that I have more feedback I can write about more things._

_A huuuuuuuge thanks to my reviewers. You guys rule:D_


	4. Apologies

**Chapter 4: Apologies**

"Uhhhh..." Drake mumbled sleepily. He hated weekdays and he hated his stupid alarm clock. "Shuddup!"

Josh was already awake and was watching Drake from his bed. Unintentional as it was, he smiled when he realized what he was doing and sighed. _I could get used to this, _he thought. He got up from the bed and climbed up the ladder of Drake's. Shaking him gently did the trick and when he opened his eyes, they were wide with surprise. Drake smiled slightly, then sat up and rubbed his eyes while he yawned.

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"You boys are awfully quiet today," Audrey noticed at the breakfast table.

Drake and Josh just smiled and said "Yeah," at the same time. They looked at each other for a split second before looking back down into their cereal bowls. Neither of them wanted to say anything and they didn't until Josh spoke up suddenly.

"Ooh, we're gonna be late for school,"he said"Let's go, Drake."

" 'Kay," he replied.

The entire car ride to school was silent. They didn't want to turn on the radio for fear they might "accidentally" touch hands. Drake didn't know what to say except he wanted to apologize. He wasn't really sorry for what he'd done. In fact, he'd been wanting to kiss Josh ever since the incident with Drew and Jerry. Up until that point Drake never realized that he had feelings for Josh. But when he stopped spending time with him to hang out with his almost-twin, he knew. The entire thing was laughable, but that gave them a little push in the direction Drake now wanted to be going in.

_I knew I should have said something before, _he thought. Now he was scared that Josh would be afraid of him, that he'd push him away now that he knew. The need to apologize was so great that just before Josh opened the door he said "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For what I did to you at the Premiere. I'm really sorry and- and if you hate me now I understand so just-"

"Drake, no. Don't apologize. It's okay. You had every right to do it," Josh said trying to comfort him.

Drake smiled as he said a small thank you to Josh and exited the car.

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Eating lunch at the same table as Mindy Crenshaw was giving Drake indigestion. Not because he hated her so much, but because the whole situation was awkward. Here he was sitting directly across from the guy he had kissed not more than twenty-four hours ago and _he_ was having lunch with his girlfriend. It didn't feel right, so he decided to do something about. Drake got up and Josh followed with his eyes. He didn't have to ask why he was leaving; he just knew.

Mindy didn't think much of it. She knew, in her mind, that Drake was rude that way. She leaned in to give Josh a kiss, but was surprised when he flinched a little.

"What's wrong, Josh?" she asked.

"Huh?" he said absent-mindedly "Oh, no-nothing. Nothing eventful."

She knew that when something was wrong with Josh he would act as if it wasn't a big deal and say that "nothing special" was up. She shot him a look and his face turned sad.

"It's that bad, huh?"

"Yeah," he said not looking at her "Mindy, I- there's...there's something I have to tell you."

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"So, see, I'm really sorry, Mindy, but I don't think I can keep on being with you. I hate feeling like I did something wrong, and staying with you after this happened...well...I just..._can't_."

"I don't understand it, Josh," she said "How do you suddenly have feelings for Drake?"

It took him a while to answer the question, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized about these feelings.

"It's not sudden," he said to Mindy _and_ himself. "I never realized it before he kissed me, but I guess it brought up all these feelings I...never even wanted to admit I _had_."

"So, then, why did you keep dating me?" she tried to reason with him.

"I-I don't know. I think...I just wanted to convince myself that I didn't have any feelings for him at _all_. And-and I guess that didn't work out too well. I'm sorry. Your probably hate me now and I don't blame you-"

"I'm mad at you for not telling me about this, Josh...but I'm not mad at you for feeling the way you do. Despite the fact that my hatred for Drake just doubled, do you think we can still be friends?" Mindy asked hopefully.

"What? You mean, y-you don't hate me?" He was puzzled at her reaction. Half of him had expected her to get up and throw a carton of milk at his head. The other half expected her to never speak to him again. But this? Friendship? From a girl he had just dumped for his own _step-brother_?

"How could I hate you, Josh?" she responded with a smile "You gave me my first real relationship. Even if you don't really love me _that _way, you've proven to me that you are an incredible person. I love you. To give you up just like that would be incredibly stupid and selfish of me."

"You're an awesome girl, Mindy," he told her sincerely "I hope you can find someone who _really_ loves you one day. You deserve it...and I definitely want to be friends with you."

The bell signaled the end of the lunch period and they both hugged each other as they stood up.

"You know," Josh told Mindy as they walked out the doors arm-in-arm "I think that went well. You know, despite me having broken up with you."

Mindy laughed out loud and gave his arm a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek before they parted ways to get to each of their classes.

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Drake sat in his Math class silently. He had his head down but he wasn't looking at anything in particular. When Josh walked in, all he could do was blush, still very embarrased.

"Hey," he heard Josh say.

"Hey," he responded, barely lifting his head and waving his hand slightly.

The two of them sat in awkward silence for the rest of the class. The little things that used to be so innocent were now a big deal. In the middle of class, Drake dropped his pencil and as he turned to pick it up, Josh had the same idea. Their hands brushed against each other for a split second and suddenly Drake wasn't so interested in the pencil anymore. Josh was, however, and he handed it to his step-brother a few seconds later with a smile. Neither of them ever imagined that they'd have nothing to say to each other.

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Josh and Drake had spent the past few hours not interacting with each other much. The awkwardness had settled in and it prevented them from saying much other than the ocassional "hey" and "thanks". After a while, Josh spoke up.

"Hey, Drake," he said aloud.

"Yeah?" his brother said, a little bit surprised that Josh was suddenly talking to him again.

"Am I, uh, am I correct in assuming that the reason you hate Mindy so much is because...because...you know...?"

Drake laughed a little bit and smiled at Josh playfully. "Well...what do you think?"

Josh slapped himself on the forehead and said "Of course! That explains a lot. All this time I had thought it was because she framed you for the whole 'car-in-the-classroom' thing. I'm so stupid!"

"Josh. Josh! Relax, would you?" Drake said as he got up and put his arm around him.

The other boy smiled and moved in closer. He sighed heavily and decided to ask Drake a few questions. "Hey, can I, uh, can I ask you some stuff? I'm just a little curious."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Like, if you've liked me this whole time, why have you been going out with girls and stuff?"

"Well," he explained "think about it. If I had just suddenly stopped dating girls, don't you think people would notice?"

"Yeah, but," Josh said "people are gonna notice _now_."

"You know, Josh," Drake replied "I really don't think that's gonna be a problem. You see, the whole reason I never wanted anyone _else_ to know is because I was afraid that you'd find out. So now that you know, I don't really care what anyone else thinks."

Josh smiled at him and stared into his eyes for a moment. "I love you..." he said before looking down at his feet. It was a moment of revelation for the both of them. Josh had uttered the words he never thought he would say to Drake, at least not in _this _context and Drake couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"You-you do?"

"Yeah..." Josh couldn't say anything else. Suddenly everything he wanted to say was stuck in his throat. He just stood there helplessly, not knowing what to do or say.

"You don't have to say anything else," Drake replied as if knowing exactly what Josh was thinking. He turned around to face his step-brother and pulled his chin up with his finger so that their eyes met once more. Staring into Josh's eyes for a few seconds, he leaned in closer, put his arms around him and kissed him.

Josh didn't move, except to wrap his arms around Drake. This wasn't like the kiss at the Premiere; it wasn't unexpected or (slightly) forced. It was just what he needed and everything he wanted at that moment.

"Boys?" came a voice from the door.

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_Note: Yeah another cliffhanger ending. I know I say this after every chapter, but thank you so much to my reviewers...again! __I mean it. It makes a world of difference to have encouragement and that's what I'm getting from you guys, so thanks again. )_


	5. So Explain Already!

**Chapter 5: So Explain Already!**

Drake and Josh opened their eyes wide and quickly stepped away from each other. They turned around and saw Audrey standing at the door. A look of surprise mixed with shock filled her face.

"Hey, mom," Drake said as he forced a smile. "What's up?"

"What are you..._doing_?"

Both boys turned to each other quickly and Josh began trying to make up excuses.

"Well, umm...we were-we were just-um..." he gave up half way through when he realized it was too late, looked down and said "Aw, geez."

"I don't- I don't even know what to _say, _I just-" Audrey gave up trying to address the situation and turned to go quickly down the stairs.

"Mom, wait!" she heard Drake say as both he and Josh ran after her.

Once downstairs, Walter heard the commotion as both boys tried to explain to her what she had just seen.

"What's going on?"

"Why don't you ask your son!" she said angrily.

"Josh, what's the problem?" Walter asked him.

He remained silent for a few moments before he walked towards his father and faced him. "Dad, I- I need to talk to you."

Walter's face became wrinkled with worry at the sound of Josh's voice. He couldn't figure out for the life of him what was happening. That all changed, however, when Josh began to explain why Audrey was acting the way she was.

"Well, dad, um..."

"Yes?"

"Uh, mo-mom caught Drake and I, uh...kissing..." he flinched slightly, thinking the next sound out of his father's mouth would be a loud yell. He paused for a moment when he saw that Walter just had a confused look on his face.

"Kissing who?"

"Dad..." Josh said with an incredulous look on his face, lightly shaking his head. "Us. Me and Drake. That's who? There was no one else there...just us." He looked down a little and tried to turn away, but couldn't; he was curious as to what Walter's reaction would be. To his surprise, he didn't yell or even raise his voice. Instead, he stood up and looked at his son for a while.

"I-I'm going outside for a while," he said quietly before turning around and walking out the front door.

"Dad, wait-" Josh was cut off when he felt Drake put a hand on his shoulder. He knew that he should leave his father to think about what he'd just found out.

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It was too much. It was just way too much. Walter Nichols sat on the front steps of his house. He kept thinking about everything that had just been thrown onto him at once. His son. His own son! And with his _step_-son to top it off. He sighed a little before he heard the front door open.

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"Mom?" Drake said as he pushed the door to the kitchen open. He wanted to talk to her even though she wanted nothing to do with it. "Mom, wait please," he pleaded with her as she stood up and almost left again. He looked Audrey straight in the eyes. She sat back down at the table as he pulled up a chair right next to her.

"I don't understand, Drake," she said with a sadness to her voice.

"Don't be sad, mom," he replied almost responding to the tone in which she spoke, "I know this is hard for you to figure out and I'm sorry you feel that way...but the fact of the matter is that I love Josh and- and there's nothing anyone can say that'll make me feel otherwise. He just- he makes me feel better than any girl has. He's always been there for me. Girls just look at me and that's all they see. Just another face. Another guy to fool around with," he saw his mother's eyes grow wide at the mention of this, "you know, not-not that I have or anything. Anyway, mom, I guess what I'm saying is that Josh isn't one of those girls to me. He loved me even when I had a hideous facial rash, or I was having a bad hair day."

"I just," she began to talk more steadily "thought that one day my boy would be marrying a beautiful woman and having children with her and-"

"So you wanted to have the perfect family?"

"Yes," she said "for once I thought I would actually get to see a family that didn't fall apart like ours did."

"Mom, I know it doesn't seem like it to you," he said trying to comfort her "but to me this _is_ perfect."

She smiled at him a little and covered his hand with hers before giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Drake. I overreacted, I should have never yelled at you. I think I've just gotten Josh in big trouble. I better go explain to Walter-"

"Mom, don't," he said as he grabbed her gently by the arm to stop her, "I think Josh can handle this."

"You're right, honey," Audrey responded before giving her son a kiss on the forehead.

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"Is it okay if I sit here?" Josh asked as he walked toward his father.

"Go ahead," Walter replied still shaken.

"Dad, look. I- I know you expected me to grow up and be the kind of guy who would give you lots of grandchildren and a daughter-in-law, but...I'm not that kind of guy. I know it's hard for you to accept who I am and it's going to take some time to adjust to this...you know, if you can at all. I just- I just wish you would give me a chance. I wish you would give _Drake _a chance. I don't mean to hurt you and I know you wouldn't want to hurt me. I'm just- I'm in love. Now, it's not with a girl, I know and I'm sorry that disappoints you, but that's the way it is. I don't want you to hate me. You can't. I'm your only son on your side. I'm your only _child._"

Josh stood up when he didn't hear his father say anything and went back inside. He walked in wiping his eyes from the tears that had began forming and was caught off guard when Audrey rushed toward him and gave him a hug.

"Wha-" he said, but was cut off when she began to explain her actions.

"You're the only person who can make my Drake truly happy and I'm so grateful to you for that." That was all she needed to say. Josh hugged her back and began letting the tears stream down his face. He had never been so happy _and _so sad at the same time. He looked up for a bit and smiled at Drake before giving him a silent "thank you."

After Audrey had separated herself from Josh, she gave him a sad look.

"How's your father taking it?"

"Not too well, he hasn't spoken to me about it yet, but I tried to talk to him."

As if on cue, Walter walked back through the door. Looking down at the floor, he asked for some time alone with Josh. Drake and Audrey walked into the kitchen and shut the doors.

"Josh, I- I thought about what you said and," he paused briefly "you were right. You're my only son...well, besides Drake, but that's kinda different now," he said with a giggle.

"Dad," Josh chuckled softly as he reminded Walter to get back on track.

"Oh, right," he jumped back in "Well, I just wanted to say, Josh, that- that you're my son and I _wouldn't_ want to hurt you no matter what you choose to be or do or whatever way you choose to live your life."

Josh looked at his dad with grateful eyes. "Thank you," he said quietly before giving Walter a tight hug "you're the best!"

"Josh, you're smothering me."

"Sorry," he said as he released his father, "I gotta go tell Drake! Hey Drake!"

Walter chuckled silently as the boys ran excitedly to tell Megan. He was joined a while later by his wife.

"I'm proud of us, Walter" Audrey said as she sat next to him and he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Yes, I think we did the right thing," he replied, smiling.

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"Oh my God, dude!" Josh said as he sat down on his bed, a huge sigh of relief escaping his body.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Drake responded as he closed the door to their bedroom behind him. He stared at Josh for a moment before leaning over him and giving him a kiss.

"Oh, wait," Josh said suddenly "shouldn't we tell Megan about this?"

"Yeah," Drake said as he bit his lip "just...not yet."

"Oh, I see," Josh said with a giggle as he winked...

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Megan heard a knock at the door and grabbed the remote control to open it.

"What do you want, boobs?" she said as she saw her brothers at the door.

"We need to talk to you about something," they began to explain.

"Look, if this is about you two being in love or whatever, save it."

"Megan!" both Josh and Drake said at the same time, astonished at the tone of her voice.

"I don't mean _that_, boobs," she said, trying to calm them down. "What I meant to say was that I already heard you talking to mom and dad."

"Oh," Josh said, then a look of confusion filled his face. "Wait, how did you hear?"

"I have my ways," she said with a wicked smile.

"O...kay..." Drake said a little afraid "Well, we'll just, uh, just go now." They slowly backed out of her doorway

"Later, boobs!" Megan said as she closed the door behind them.

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The kitchen was alive again during breakfast. Drake and Josh were engaged in a conversation, while Audrey and Walter hurried to get ready to go to work. Once the boys were alone, they took a little time to give each other a few kisses.

"Gross!" they heard a little voice say as Megan walked by.

"Megan," Josh explained to her "we already told you there is _nothing_ wrong with-"

"I know that," she responded matter-of-factly "I was just saying it to you boobs in general."

They rolled their eyes as Megan grabbed her lunch bag and followed her mom out the door. Josh gave Drake's hand a gentle squeeze and smiled at him. They both giggled at Megan and stood silently. They knew that eventually word would get around at school once people noticed Drake's sudden lack of interest in girls. Even though they were nervous about what would happen, they didn't worry much. What mattered to them was that they'd managed to keep their family intact through all of this and the words of a bunch of kids they'd never see again after graduation weren't that much of a big deal.

"Hey, Drake," Josh said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Like, I forgot to tell you that I'm still friends with Mindy," he explained.

"Ugh," Drake said as he rolled his eyes.

"But wait, wait. I want you to at least _try_ to be friends with her, please. For me?" He said making a mock sad face.

"Fine, but only because _you_ want me to."

**THE END**

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_Note: Huge thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the story. It means so much to me! I'm sorry that it was so short, but I really felt that I couldn't drag it on for much longer. I'm working on a short oneshot story next so look out for that. Thanks for reading again! _

_-Itzel_


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